clamshell

noun

clam·shell | \ ˈklam-ˌshel

\

Definition of clamshell

1 : the shell of a clam

2a : a bucket or grapple (as on a dredge) having two hinged jaws

b : an excavating machine having a clamshell

c : either of a pair of doors (as in an airplane tail) that open out and away from each other

d : a hinged container, case, or cover that opens like the shell of a clam

Examples of clamshell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This clamshell features a 15.6-inch 1080p display, a quad-core, 2.3GHz Core i5-8300H processor, 16GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060Ti, a 256GB SSD, and 1TB of storage. — Ian Paul, PCWorld, "Walmart has your back-to-school shopping covered with these killer Dell, Lenovo laptop deals," 20 Aug. 2018 Water well and slip the pots into clear plastic bags (or close the plastic clamshells). — Jean Nick, Good Housekeeping, "How To Grow Your Own Turmeric Indoors (It's Easier Than You Think)," 3 Feb. 2017 In 2011, there was Motorola’s Lapdock, an otherwise-useless clamshell powered by its Atrix 4G phone. — David Pierce, WSJ, "Your Smartphone Is the Best Computer You Own," 23 May 2018 Serenity furniture and clamshell loungers are cushioned. — David G. Molyneaux, miamiherald, "Carnival, that most American of cruise lines, won't return to Europe any time soon," 5 July 2018 The biggest issue, though, is not the price tag of the sweeping, clamshell-shaped station, built in western Kowloon near shopping malls, apartment towers and a new arts district. — Austin Ramzy, New York Times, "Hong Kong Gives Mainland Police Sway in New Train Station," 15 June 2018 This is the project in a clamshell: Two 35-mile, 40-foot-wide tunnels under the delta from the estuary’s northern end on the Sacramento River to aqueducts at the southern edge. — George Skelton, latimes.com, "What do Southern Californians really get out of Gov. Jerry Brown's twin tunnels project?," 12 July 2018 The letter, which includes a leather clamshell case, is likely to be sold to a museum or private collector who will know how to properly preserve it, Livingston said. — Mark Pratt, Fox News, "Martin Luther letter critical of Jews is up for auction," 10 July 2018 The battery lasts for up to 4 hours for audio playback, and the clamshell case holds three additional charges. — Chris Welch, The Verge, "Sony’s futuristic earbuds are a pain in the present," 29 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'clamshell.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

2 Jan 2019

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Time Traveler for clamshell

The first known use of clamshell was circa 1520

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